Garage Works - 6/2/2024

I helped Marlon get the clear coat on his new longboard.  We opted to go with a 2K Clear Coat (2-part) and it saved us from having to deal with more fill coats and sanding.

It came out really nice!  We are going to need to fill in one area where there was an air bubble in the epoxy, but after that he can FINALLY surf this board (I think over two years in the making).

And after I got back from winging and helping Marlon spray the top deck, I got to work on getting the rough shaping done on No.36

I had to tweak the outline a bit - and it looks a whole lot better.  I got the rough shape dialed in to a high degree (probably close to 90%)

I'm thinking about putting footstraps on this one - I'm going to have to transpose where I believe I keep my feet when I'm Foil Drive-ing No.33

This is the top deck.

Or maybe I won't bother with the footstraps - I've got a few days to think about it.

I also got the box position decided on and marked the cut line.

If I have time, I'll sand the blank tomorrow and get the reinforcement block hole routed out.

I'm going to use carbon patches underneath basalt cloth on this one.  Will do a pigment fill coat top and bottom.

Garage Works - 4/17/2024

I passed up a surfing session today so I could get some work done on this next board.

I originally had the intention of cutting the blank out of the billet foam.

Then I figured I might as well get the nose rocker cut in.

And why not go ahead and get the chines in place.

And why stop now - dress up the top deck.  And then I used the dragon skin to blend in the interfaces and remove more bulk material.  And I figured why not use the rough sand paper and get the shape dialed in.

This was definitely a lot further than I was targeting today - but after two hours I had a 90% shaped and sanded blank.

I like the lines on this one.  I still have more sanding to do to get the symmetry dialed in.  Then I'll mark the centerline again and determine where the track block will sit. 

This is a detuned nose - no slight bow shape on this one.  But it also isn't a straight surfboard nose either - with some volume, this part of the board will contribute to the overall stability and will also not drive to one direction or another when it goes underwater (like after coming down from a jump).

Tomorrow I may be helping Matt dial in No.35 - but I'll at least remark the center line and get the track block situated.  Getting a board to this point in two hours... this might be a record for me - I don't want to lose the momentum!

Garage Works - 3/26/2023

After a nap, I went out into the garage to work on the boards in progress.  First up was getting the volume distribution on the big prone/light wind winging board dialled in.

I broke out the Makita 18V planer for this work.

I'm comfortable with where the top deck and bottom rocker are at currently.  I'll try and keep as much volume on this as possible, so that'll mean minimal foam removal.  There will be chines on the bottom deck, but most of the removal will be at the tail block - which I haven't completely figured out yet.

I'll go through some iterations in my head - but I think it will involve tapering after the track boxes and keeping the bottom as flat as I can.

This will most likely become a 'V' tail.

And while I was at it, I got the template marked out on the new prone foil board (I need to have more room forward of where the current 4'8" track is installed).

I didn't hook up the vacuum to planer today - just focused on removing bulk foam.

And with these short prone boards, since I know how I want them to end up, the rough shaping goes pretty quick.  I got this one pretty much completed today (still need to sand it and then I'll install the mast track reinforcement block, etc, etc, etc).

The boxes are laid out 2" further forward than the current board.

When you know what you want to emerge from the blank, shaping is easy - just takes time (so you don't take too much too fast).

I also really like shaping stringerless blanks - so easy when you don't have to shave down stringers.

I really like this length - the current board has been super versatile.  And the shorter boards I've made since have helped me define what works for me and the waves I usually find myself in.